The Ryen Russillo Podcast - Why the Calvin Ridley Suspension Was Fair and Necessary, Plus Danny Kanell on NFL Draft QB Prospects

Episode Date: March 8, 2022

Russillo shares his thoughts on the news of wide receiver Calvin Ridley receiving a one-year suspension for betting on NFL games during the 2021 season (0:27). Then Ryen talks with Danny Kanell of SiriusXM and CBS Sports about his top QB prospects for the 2022 NFL draft (11:43). Finally Ryen answers some listener-submitted Life Advice questions (57:50). Host: Ryen Russillo Guest: Danny Kanell Producers: Kyle Crichton and Steve Ceruti Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

today's pod you knew it i've got just a blowtorch to the ridley takes on the suspended wide receiver for gambling we're going to talk about that story and the quarterback class and just some other stuff with danny cannell catching up the old radio partner we got about 40 seconds on on Aaron Rodgers and life advice. We got to talk Calvin Ridley. We have to talk Calvin Ridley. Biggest story of the news yesterday, NFL receiver Ridley with the Atlanta Falcons

played five games for him last year. Remember, took some time away, wanted to work on his mental health. So he was on the non-football injury list. And during that time in November, he bet some parlays on an app. He had a three-teamer in there, five-teamer, eight-teamer. He said he lost only $1,500.

This was tracked because he put his own information into the app. And then the NFL works with different places to kind of just look over this stuff. And they were like, hey, this player, active player, he's betting on NFL games. And you get banned for a year. You can't do it. All right? It sounds really simple. And there are very few things, I think, in life that we should all be able to agree on, but this should

be one of them. If you're an active player in your league, you can't bet on those games. You just can't. I mean, this is the reason why we talked about Pete Rose having a lifetime ban now for decades. Okay. You cannot invite speculation into the legitimacy of your product if the outcomes are the product. I think that's pretty clear. But I knew it. I knew it. I'm like, okay, let's see who's got what. Let's see them all.

Let's see who has the worst takes on Ridley being suspended a year. My Florio Emmanuel Acho parlay smashed. I was like, oh, here we go. All right, Florio was arguing with Albert Breer. And essentially, Florio Emmanuel Acho parlay smashed. I was like, oh, here we go. All right, Florio was arguing with Albert Breer, and essentially Florio had said, look, the league is earning millions through the peddling a consumer product that it won't let players consume.

It's a tad effed up. No, it isn't. No, it isn't. And by the way, the league made, according to Florio last year, $270 million in revenue from gambling partnerships. It's everywhere. We're part of it. I'm probably going to throw this open to an ad about placing your own same game parlay. If you're an NFL player who's active, don't bet on games in your league, but you don't have to worry about that

right now because you're not in season. And by the way, Florio himself pointed out, it's great for football, but it comes with an inherent warning for the current stewards of the game. If some of that revenue isn't devoted to ensuring the accuracy of calls, protecting inside information, preventing corruption of coaches, players, and officials, and otherwise safeguarding the integrity of the game, the league will be stepping into a bear trap eventually. So Florio himself last year was warning that, you know, hey, you can't invite in this gray area. And then you have a player who bets,

who does the thing that you wanted protection against. You're saying it wasn't that bad. But the worst one was probably Emmanuel Acho who posted a video. And look, he just wanted the retweets, but it was a video of Ridley cutting off some routes a little short of the sticks. I don't think it's entirely fair. Maybe, maybe there's something there, you know, maybe the story gets bigger, but I don't know that it's entirely fair to post the video and then speculate as if there's this, well, who knows

he was short of the sticks there. Why did he cut off that breakaway route against Kansas city? What happened there? I'll admit, even if it looks a little weird, it's a little weird, but I also think it's entirely unfair to do to Ridley. But hey, again, people have made a career after just retweeting other people's fucking videos. So I'm not entirely surprised that happened. And then that turned into a whole thing and they deleted the tweet. All right. So here's another part of it that's worth mentioning. If the league is making 270 million this past year on gambling partnerships, guess who also makes out on that money?

The players. So even though people kind of love to find hypocrisy in things, I really do. I think our society, I don't know if this is in other countries too, but it always kind of makes you feel like it's back to my college football rant that I always go to where if you already expect to get fucked over because you get fucked over in so many different things in life that you're like, oh, hey, well that you're a hypocrite. Like, that's hypocritical. That shouldn't happen. I actually don't think this is hypocrisy. I don't think it's hypocrisy for the league to have gambling partnerships and say, hey, by the way, the reason our league is so successful is because people think it's legitimate and

they're entertained. And we have these outcomes that people don't expect because it's sports and it's life and any given Sunday and all of that stuff. And then if people found out that it was fixed or if certain players were fixing games for their own personal benefit or were fixing games to get out of trouble because they were gambling with somebody that they shouldn't have been gambling with,

then yeah, that would be a problem for a business that's hoping to one day generate $20 billion in revenue. I also think that the Miami Dolphins part of this is relevant, but I'm not sure it's the same thing because as soon as Calvin Ridley, which again is one of my biggest premises, we have someone who is very obvious to blame. And in this case, it's Calvin Ridley. He is the person that fucked up. It is a very nasty punishment. You're going to lose like 11 million in salary by being dismissed for the entire year. He can appeal

this within days. He can ask for reinstatement in February, 2023. Okay. So just to clear that part of it up, but we have the person to blame in Ridley, but then it's like, yeah, but who else can we blame? Can we blame a bunch of other people? Can we blame the NFL because of these partnerships? Can we blame someone else?

Can we blame society? Can we blame Stephen Ross, the Miami Dolphins, who supposedly, according to Brian Flores' lawsuit, offered up Flores hundreds of thousands of dollars in bonuses to lose games on purpose

to increase their draft odds, right? To help them get a better draft pick. I'd say that we probably taught process tanking differently because we're a little bit more used to it. Sam Hinckley throwing games away doesn't feel the same as an NFL player betting on games in a league that he's an active member of. Maybe that's just the way we process things that are different. Maybe I'm wrong, but I think that's kind of where we're all at, that we do process these things a little differently. So to get that one out of the way, I want to then pivot to this, the analogy. I like analogies.

Sometimes I'm great with them. Other times I get done with them and go, that was a bit of a reach. That wasn't the best one you ever had. I tried to come up with a perfect analogy for this. What's the perfect analogy for somebody at the workplace where you know definitively there's no argument about it, you just can't do this? place where you know definitively there's no argument about it. You just can't do this. The ones that I came up with are subjects that I don't want to debate if they're better or worse than gambling on a football game.

I'm not sure that I want to get into that of what we know we can or can't do with the workplace. But in this case, for every athlete that's been a part of any, if you're an NHL player, if you're an NBA player, if you're a baseball player, if you're a football player, on and on and on, and I'm sure European soccer is the same despite all the weird shit that seemed to happen over there, it is understood, Hey, the biggest thing that you can't do, not saying it's the most important thing in the world, but for our world, you can't bet on some of these games. And the point is I couldn't come up with a perfect analogy because this one

is so obvious. This one is so obvious. You know, you could say, Oh, like the insider trading. Yeah, but I don't know. It's not cool, but some people figure out a way to do it. You know, real estate, well, what if you do this? Or what if your mortgage, you do, you know, I mean, there's all sorts of stuff that you hear about that can sort of happen. And yet none of them feel as definitive of being somebody betting on games in a league that you're an active member of. So then it kind of got me thinking about like Nat Geo.

All right. Now you're going to think, wait, okay, how are we, how are we pivoting to Nat Geo? Stay with me here. You ever watch Locked Up Abroad? The story's almost always the same. It's like three guys from, I don't know, San Diego, Brett, Chad, whatever. And they're like, yeah, we were in Thailand for the summer, man. It just didn't, the trip was unbelievable.

Met a bunch of locals who were camping out on the beach just living the life funds running a little low and you know we met these really cool guys from switzerland and they were like if you can run some tar heroin into cambodia you know make some money off of it and like we weren't hurting anybody so next thing you know we're duct taping kilos of heroin to our abdomen. We get in a plane and then we land and we get busted, man. You're like, okay. And then you see the guy present day and he looks like Sam Elliott and he's only like 41. And he's like, yeah, the prison's over there. Not a great time. And you're at home with your wife or your girlfriend, maybe you're alone. And you watch the show and you go, well, why would

you do that? You know, like maybe you get away with it, but if you get caught, you are fucked. All right. And that's kind of what I felt like today. And I, I'm going to do one more. I'm going to do one more because this one is actually perhaps the most telling, even though it's going to sound maybe the most screwed up. Because what else happens? Whenever anybody gets into trouble with the NFL, we go back to the Ray Rice two-game suspension by Roger Goodell. Ray Rice was punished in July of 14. Goodell is a bad public speaker.

So on top of that, and then us seeing the video and how poorly the NFL handled actually getting the video on their own, they got crushed for it, deservingly so. But at the time, even though nobody likes this, the time, I don't think Goodell,

I don't think the NFL, they were aware of what the reaction was going to be because there had been other people that had been suspended for domestic violence, but it was different because it felt like the world

kind of changed because they saw the video that day. So the NFL is like, all right, the CBA says we can do this, and this is what we did. And then it became weed suspensions versus Ray Rice suspensions for about, I don't know, seven years because of that one always

jumps in. It's like, well, look at Calvin Ridley, but then look at weed. Like, all right. But then when Adrian Peterson got in trouble for hitting a boy his son on the genitals with a stick which when you read those text messages it was pretty it sucked man i mean look it goes without saying it was awful to read and all that stuff and then goodell's like okay so wait a minute i got crushed for the ray rice part of the suspension but now i can just say all right right, I'm going to

go commissioner's exemption list and Adrian Peterson, you're out for the rest of the season. And that was November 14th. So the November 14th suspension happened because of the reaction to the lack of suspension for Ray Rice back to July 14th. And by the way, the real punishment for Ray Rice, he never played football again. So two games, not enough games, full season, whatever. The NFL doesn't get any credit for anything, and I understand why, those criticisms. And I'm not saying that two games was necessarily right. But what I'm saying is that

you ended up getting the punishment with Ray Rice. So every one of you that tweet about Ray Rice only getting two games, the NFL gave you the punishment that you actually wanted because professionally he was done at 26 years old. The reason I bring this all up, and this is fucked up as this is going to sound, is that we have now had, I don't know how many examples of people breaking the law, doing terrible things at home, and in this case with Ray Rice and Adrian Peterson,

domestic violence and child abuse. And I don't think it's ever really hurt the product. Has it? Do you watch less football now? The ratings after a little dip, they went back up, didn't they? Projected revenues, new TV deal, all this stuff, the money keeps pouring in because the consumer has shown

that you may not like it and it may bother you, but it's not going to bother you enough to change the channel. But if you were to learn, as much as everybody loves a conspiracy theory, if you were to learn that games, that the outcomes were being impacted because guys were actually betting on the games that they were in or getting inside information from a friend from a college

that's on another team, if you started to hear about any gray area where you felt like the outcomes were less legitimate, that is what the NFL is protecting itself against, because that might be the thing that could impact their business, because unfortunately, none of the other stuff has. Danny Connell is with us. What's up, man? What's going on? How we doing?

Usually, I'm on here like hoodie and a hat and slooty. The first thing he notices is like, whoa, it's like the hair. It's a little bit high. I think it's more the angle of the laptop that's looking up at me. But I have to do some on-camera stuff for the franchise tag deadline and all that today after the show. But I actually need some advice from you. Can I flip the script on you? Because I love life advice.

It's a great segment. Love it. You don't listen to it. Who do you think? I absolutely do. I'm in a bad spot. Okay. So after the end of every football season i get a little bit loose right

you kind of you're traveling a lot you eat a lot you're eating on the road it's hard to stay healthy workouts start to fall by the wayside now even more with my kids getting older more activities like there is so little time in the day to work out so i kind of just kind of let it go let it go a little bit. I had hopped on the scale a few weeks ago, probably the week of the Super Bowl, and I was 226, which is about the most I've been since my freshman year when I played baseball.

And that was your freshman 15 that I put on. So I knew what I wanted to do, but then it was like all time low because a couple of weekends ago, I'm out by the pool with my girls, like trying to be good dad, I knew what I wanted to do, but then it was all-time low because a couple weekends ago, I'm out by the pool with my girls, trying to be good dad, throwing the ball with them, playing outside, have my shirt off. All of a sudden, I get a message on my phone. And it's Courtney, my lovely wife, Courtney. She sends me a picture.

And she's inside, I'm outside, and there's no comment because there was really no comment necessary. I should try to find a picture and show you, but I don't want you to screen grab it because it's very... Shirt off, as bad a pose as you could get, a little bit of man boobs that aren't really there, loose around the gut, just awful. So I was going to get in gear anyway. But that was the final straw. And it irritates me. Cause I didn't want it to work. Like I don't want to fat shaming me into getting in shape, but it did,

it did kind of set the alarms off. So I knocked off the first six or seven pounds pretty easily. Like that came off pretty well, but I'm, I'm thinking about taking it to the next level. There's nobody better to ask about. I've actually been... I have a meeting set up with one of these blood workplaces where they do HRT,

the hormone replacement therapy. You're just going to get on growth hormone. You already know. Is that it? But I've never tried it. I've never done it. I want to look like Jeff Bezos is basically what I want to look like. That's the goal. Not pre-Amazon, post-Amazon, like the post-divorce Jeff Bezos is what I want to look like. That's the goal. Not pre-Amazon, post-Amazon. The post-divorce Jeff Bezos is what I want to look like.

I want what he's taking. Yeah, I don't know. I mean, everybody thinks I'm on stuff, which is great. But it was funny because the other day I was in a car with a buddy going up to the golf tournament. And I was just in a puddle. I was tired. It was the morning. It wasn't because we were drinking or anything.

I was just letting it hang out. And I'm tired. It was the morning. It wasn't like, cause we were drinking or anything. I was just, you know, like just letting it hang out and I'm up to two 35 now. And it looked like I had a massive gut because I was just like, you know, just the form. And I noticed him kind of looking down like, wait, what's going on with her. So did he just get crazy fat out of nowhere? And I saw him kind of checking me out a little and I go, you know, this is just sort of that weird lifter stomach thing where it's sticking out. But, um, again, I'm not all ripped up. I haven't taken anything. So I don't know what to tell you other than everybody that I've heard that's taken stuff that's older. They're like, this is the greatest thing ever because my knees feel good. I'm playing pickup hoops. I'm moving like I haven't moved before. So I don't know enough about it. I know that people areops. I'm moving like I haven't moved before.

So I don't know enough about it. I know that people are like, wait, you're not on something, which again, I always take as a compliment, but I don't know. I guess I kind of always felt good. Like when I see a rip 50 year old guy at the gym, I just kind of think like, oh, you're just on shit. So I don't know. You're committed. Like, that's the thing where I never doubted you saying, cause you, you work lot like you have the time to do it you put in the effort i want something that i can put in

minimal effort maximum results like that's what here's what i would do first of all i know you well enough to know that you like gear you like your stuff yeah okay and if you buy stuff then you'll feel like oh i, I need to use it. Just fit into it. Right? Yeah. Fit into it too. So I would go and get yourself a new setup for workout clothes.

I'm surprised you don't want to get out of the house and work out a little bit. Not that your kids and family aren't amazing, but I would think of that 45 minutes to an hour of like, hey, dad's going to... Now, again, I know some parents are listening to this being like, yeah, Rosillo, that doesn't exist. You can't do it. I think people can do it. Some people decide that they don't want to do it. And then I would find like a good push pull regimen for four to six weeks where it's very quick. You're in and out quick. You know, don't go crazy the first couple of weeks. I would do something knowing your approach to things that if there were actually like a goal in front of you and set and it's different it's challenging you that you would pick it right up and be super into

it um you know that's that would be my advice or you could just get a trainer but i don't know if you're gonna be definitely not a trainer i've had i've had trainers try to train me and it's always like like they're so basic in the form and they're telling me like, I know how to work out. I just need somebody to kick me in the ass. Like that's what I need, but I can do that to myself. So I'm maybe you should post the picture on social media and then I thought about it. Yeah. I thought about it, but I'll wait for it. I'll wait till the after, then I'll go before here's the before then the after, cause I don't want to do it now in case, in case it doesn't get turned around. I don't want that out there. So if I get there to where I want to go, then I'll go, here's the before, there's the after, but I'm waiting until that moment.

Yeah. What I did is I posted something that may be an after, but I pretended it was a before and people weren't quite sure. And then I had people being like, you don't look that bad, man. And I was like, all right. right your instagram oh my gosh again are you still i haven't seen any posts recently are you still giving me the ironic instagram uh you know yeah no for me i had like three posts in a month which is which is a record for me so yeah go ahead check that out all right before we move on really quickly, do we remember when Danny airbrushed abs on his stomach for Ignite? Like it was yesterday.

What were you trying to do? Was it a Ryan Lochte thing? I forget. Yes, it was a Halloween special. Danny argued with us that he had abs at one point. So we were all like, what are you talking about? And you're like, I used to have a six pack. We're like, I don't think you had a six pack. Like how recent are we talking? You're

like, it wasn't that long ago. And then by the way, so Rudy calling the show Ignite is my favorite part of the podcast. I don't remember what it was. Unite. Come on. It was on ESPNU. Ignite. Maybe it would have been a success. Maybe it would have been more successful if we would have called it Ignite. Welcome into Ignite. Here's the thing. Here's the thing I will maintain. You could enhance the abs that are already there with a light airbrush. You can't just create a six pack. It was just slightly, slightly enhanced. I did have a better six pack than maybe I've ever had in my life. That was right when I moved to Canada. I was working out a ton, excited about a new job at ESPN.

I was in good shape. It's available. I don't know. I'm not saying you were in bad shape because I've never felt like you were totally in bad shape. But the six pack at a certain age to try to get it, unless you just cut like crazy, it's so hard. So, all right. Okay, so we did seven minutes on that, eight minutes.

Sorry about that. No, no, no. That's good. I want to talk draft with you. Let's do this first. Did you ever bet on NFL games while you were playing? No. Simple question. And I know where you want to go is the Calvin Ridley stuff. did you ever bet on NFL games while you were playing? No simple question

and I know where you want to go is the Calvin Ridley stuff I never knew about gambling I did not know what minus three plus three went I could not have told you I knew favorite the team that was supposed to win but I had never paid attention to the numbers after it had zero

clue which is kind of fascinating because speaking of Unite which which I was on, they really wanted to embrace gambling. And I had to study what is lay the points, what is take the points, what is the over, under. I had to learn the lingo. What did that take? Like an afternoon?

I mean... Yes. It wasn't exactly complex. It wasn't like an NFL playbook. And I learned. That's actually when I set up the first account that I had. I was like, all right, I'm just going to go all in and start gambling. Then that's the best way to start using it.

But I never noticed anybody gambling on games, talking about it. Are we the three-point favorite? No one. Never saw any of it. Now, gambling at the casino, much more serious problem. I did do that all the time. I mean, when I was with the Giants, Mondays, we would have film session. In the afternoon, we finished up around five o'clock. You'd get a lift and you'd watch the film. And there was a

limo from either Caesars or Harrah's or one of the casinos. And it would be there just to take the guys down to Atlantic City. You could hop in. They treat you great. Go down, play blackjack, craps, whatever you wanted to. They took care of you because they knew you could be high rollers. And it was great for their business. So from that aspect, gambling has always been pretty prevalent with players. Back of the plane, guys playing cards, thousands and thousands of dollars exchanged, but nobody ever talked about losing a game or gambling on the NFL. And I don't, honestly, I don't remember guys even gambling on college football other than my school's playing your school, what's on the game. Like that was it. Other than that, I don't remember anybody really talking about gambling on sports.

I don't know what the rookie transition was like, but did they talk to you about it? I mean, I know they do it now nonstop, but did they talk to you with the scared straight talk, like an Arch Leaster type deal? Yeah, absolutely. And it's everywhere. And this is even before it's been so prevalent in society. It was always, here's the worst example. And it was Arch Leaster. He was the one. But there's signage all over too. There's a sign everywhere you go. And it was usually all the same, like steroids, the PD stuff. Domestic violence was always harped on, like, don't do anything foolish, don't get arrested, don't hit women, and gambling. You literally could not do it. Of all the things, when I look

at what happened to Calvin Ridley, and it's not that... Most of the rules in the NFL, they're really an IQ test. Just don't be a dumbass and you'll be fine. And it goes back to marijuana. Even though they've lightened up the policy, it was always... You knew when the test was going to be. You just had to be smart around when you smoked because most of the guys did smoke even when I played. You just had to be smart around when you smoke because most of the guys did smoke even when I played. And you just had to be cognizant of when it was in the calendar and you work around it. If you didn't, it was like, what are you doing? not anything with digital information attached to it. To me, it makes no sense. You saw his tweets when he's out there saying, well, it was only $1,500. Maybe in his mind, he felt like that would be a differentiator, but they're very clear cut that it is not allowed at all. Yeah, that's kind of my point in the open is that I remember the first job I had in baseball. It was the first media job I had, O2, with minor league baseball.

And there were signs everywhere. And it was because of something now that's happened 100 years ago. happened a hundred years ago you know the reason we have such strict baseball policies and in this case now a football policy which you know in a way ridley can get reinstatement in a year that's not even close to what rose is facing here decades of a ban um and i have no problem with rose having that kind of ban because i don't believe i've never believed pete rose i've always thought he was full of shit and anybody that knows anybody like Sometimes I wonder how aware, I guess I'd put it this way, do you know anyone in your life,

not you specifically, but just when I hear people talk about gambling, do you know anybody that's degenerate? Because I do. And I know that that guy would sell a kidney for a fucking win on a Sunday night game. You know what I mean? I know what it's like

and to think that Pete Rose, who's an ultimate degenerate, wouldn't be manipulating some of the outcomes somewhat to get himself out of the hole so that the envelope goes a different direction when he has to meet up with this guy. And when people want to like downplay that or they don't have any exposure to somebody that has issues or any of that kind of stuff, you're just like, well, then you don't really get it, which I thought was unfortunately a lot of times on social media, a collection

of people that I'm like, you guys just don't you don't really get it which i thought was unfortunately a lot of times on social media a collection of people that i'm like you guys just don't understand this and when i had that baseball gig i remember that sign being like three rules or whatever it'd be like whatever said in here stays in here i think there was one other one that i don't remember it was like never you can never gamble on these games or whatever and that was like minor league baseball but it was just hey make sure that it's always up and it sounds stupid but i i cannot emphasize the point enough when you're a pro athlete you're reminded of it constantly and for good reason so when you fuck it up i have almost no sympathy for you i'm with you on that and i know um i think we might even have this conversation around pete rose when he was you know whatever time he was trying to get reinstated or something

where i get the i totally understand the mindset if If you bet on yourself, like I've always, and we use that term all the time when guys bet on themselves in a contract year and they don't, you know, they, they don't negotiate, they'll, they'll hold out or whatever the case may be. Like Joe Flacco is the best example of not taking a deal and saying, I'm going to run this, he wins a Superbowl and it pays off. We use that terminology all the time. And I get thinking, well, what's wrong if Calvin Ridley, as long as he bets, as long as he's betting on his team to win, then by all means, why wouldn't you? And as a fan, if I'm betting on my team, I'd want the players betting on that team. But you just can't because of... And there might be a lot of guys that could handle that. Be like,

yeah, I'm going to put... It's not a debt. If he's making $10 million, what's $50,000 to put a little extra on his team winning? But there's so much at stake when you think about the NFL and the integrity of the game, which has already come under fire.

And for everyone who says, well, what about the hypocrisy of the NFL having these partnerships with the casinos? Well, the more money the NFL makes in revenues from all over the place, the players get a piece of that. So it's not like the players aren't benefiting off the partnerships that the NFL has with these various casinos and sportsbooks across the country. But the players have to understand, and most of them do, that's just simply something you can't do. You just can't. Because what if there was that one scandal that came out, the damage it could do to the sport as a whole, it's just

not worth it. So that's always the coaches that were more practical. They're like, look, we get it. It's fun to gamble. I could see that. Just wait until you're done playing. Can you push it off a few years, 10 years, whatever it it is and then do whatever you want and gamble whatever you want on football or whatever sport it is but for now you just got to put it on the shelf let's bring you in to talk a little draft here um because we've had a little bit more time removed from the college football season and we knew that this quarterback class was not one of the greats you know i always kind of feel like yeah we get a little closer to this though you could see somebody swing it at pick four or five depending on somebody wants to move around a little bit i have seen whether it's pickett i've seen corral i've

seen malik willis who i think is whatever riser would be in this stage to me there's no definitive number one mock quarterback and i've seen it all over the place do you have one that you like more than the others Kenny Pickett's my number one but I feel like he's the safest option and maybe that's a reflection on me what I would do with this class or if I was a GM I'd want something that hey I wasn't gonna see it's complete flop and I do think there's some high risk of those with the other guys that being, I feel like the ceiling is not much higher for Kenny Pickett. I feel like his season that he had this year, I was looking back and watching several years of film. Why all of a sudden did he go from a quarterback who was very pedestrian,

13 touchdowns, 8 or 9 interceptions, just exploding on the scene with 42 touchdowns and 7 interceptions. And Jordan Addison, his receiver is a game changer. I mean, it's pretty glaring. I mean, he had 17 touchdowns. He opened things up for that offense like you hadn't seen. But then I think the problem I have with Kenny Pickett is the best case scenario for Kenny Pickett, I think is turning him into,

or he becomes Andy Dalton or Kirk Cousins, who are really... And if he does, good for him. I'd take that all day. You can make... Kirk Cousins is making $35 million a year, good for Kenny Pickett. And I think even that is projecting him into a best case scenario. And I feel like the worst-case scenario for him is he's like a seven or eight, maybe a decade-long backup, which is good, again. But do you want to draft somebody with a top 10, top 15 pick where that's the option?

So I like him. He's my number one. But I think it's a very conservative pick to make. Does that make sense? I just feel like he's the safe pick. I can look at the film. It translates the concepts he's running with. I think his mobility...

Him running a sub-4.740 was a wow moment. But let's not confuse him with a Josh Allen, the size and physicality that he runs with. And he actually, Josh Allen ran slower than him at the combine. But I don't think he's a guy that's going to blow you away with his athleticism. And his arm talent's adequate, but it's not Josh Allen's type arm or Patrick Mahomes. I just think he's kind of a safe pick to maybe be a franchise quarterback. But the more likely is he's probably predominantly a safe pick to maybe be a franchise quarterback but the more likely is he's probably

predominantly a backup throughout his career don't you think though if a scout said that to you in the war room you'd be like well then why are we taking him and again people get plenty of the stuff wrong we've been over it non-stop at least on this podcast of how often you whiff on the first rounders but it's kind of like when i look at a basketball bust i'll hear somebody say well you know you could have taken this guy because you know, at least he's going to be in your rotation one through eight, could be four or five year player. He's never going to be a starter. He's certainly never going to be an all-star. So why don't you just go ahead and take the safe pick? And you're like, well, no, that's not what this is about. This is about

trying to find a difference maker. And I'd rather make a mistake trying to find a difference maker than make a mistake because I thought, hey, his floor was higher than other people. than make a mistake because I thought, hey, his floor was higher than other people. Right. And I totally understand that. If you ask me, like, swing for the fences, the highest, you know,

and I think it's pretty obvious. I mean, it's Malik Willis. If it's a boom or bust type of candidate, I think he's clearly the guy. His arm strength is off the charts. Two years ago, the film on him is really solid. I mean, he put Liberty's team on his back. They had several wins against ACC teams. Against a better competition, he played really well.

He showcased his running ability, which isn't in question. But this past season, and this is where I do think this is the similar comp to Josh Allen. He's a smaller version of Josh Allen. Because Josh Allen does have the type of size and athleticism and arm talent that you look at. And it's just like, all right, you kind of start salivating when you think about the upside potential. Malik Willis isn't anywhere near as a physical specimen as Josh Allen. Josh Allen, 6'5", you know, 245, maybe even more. And it can throw it out of the out of the stadium.

Malik Willis, he's 6'1". He's not as big. He's 215. And his arm talent is good, but it's not off the charts good so yeah I could see it but I almost feel like he needs a system similar to what the Ravens did with Lamar Jackson or the Eagles did this past season with Jalen Hurts where you're really going to make him a feature of the run quarterback run RPO game, which if you do that, I think it could translate.

But can you open it up? And we're seeing that debate right now with Lamar Jackson. Can he evolve into a quarterback or does he even have to? Because the Ravens have pretty much made it all clear. We're good with the way he's playing the game,

but it does come with risks. And if teams start to figure that out and they take away the quarterback run game, then we've seen Lamar Jackson come back to reality. And if teams start to figure that out and they take away the quarterback run game, then we've seen kind of Lamar Jackson come back to reality. And I think that's the risk you want with Malik Willis. Now, the upside on him, like, could he become a hybrid sort of...

Because he's not as fast as Lamar Jackson and he's not as big arm talent as Josh Allen. So he's kind of like... I see him as a combo of those two. But on the up or down, it's not the same. Does that make sense? Those are the comparisons. I've molded them together.

But you don't get the best of either one. So you might swing for the fences and get a really good quarterback. But then I think you might be in a conundrum like you are with Lamar Jackson. You tailor the system to him. Can you stick with it? Can you win long-term with it? Your thing, too, if I was a team, I would be... I took some heat for saying that this quarterback class sucks as a whole

because it does. Top to bottom, there's really not one guy. There's no consensus, number one. The debates we've even heard just around two of them. You kind of see a safety valve pick or a swing for the fences with a pretty high risk of bust. I would desperately be trying to trade out and trade down, or I would be looking at the free agent market over these quarterbacks. And then what I would do is I would love to take a swing on a guy in a second or third round, like a Desmond Ritter, a Sam Howell, if he drops, somebody like that, where you don't have to invest a first round

pick. And there's so much depth of talent at the wide receiver position, other positions that you could bolster up in the first round. And I would rather say, let me take a flyer on one of these other quarterbacks in the second or third round and see if that's the type of upside you get, as opposed to taking a much riskier play and investment and a higher investment than one of these guys in the first round. Have you watched a lot of the kid from Nevada, Carson Strong? Because I can't tell if it's like he'd be the cover of a magazine. He would be, when he's drafted and you see his B roll people are going to go wait a minute

like why is this guy behind all these other people but we covered so I saw him a lot so I did CBS Sports Network like Friday night games and the Mountain West was featured on there so we saw a lot of his games watched a lot of them he's really

slow but I can't he had a knee injury so like was he really hampered by that all season long? Obviously, it had some impact on his game, but he's really, from what I saw this past season, really immobile in the pocket. And that's not the direction the NFL is moving. You don't have to run it, but you have to be mobile in the pocket.

Correct. It's a perfect call by you. Correct. That was always the Brady thing. It wasn't a keeper on his own read. It was that Brady, again, Brady had superhuman powers of understanding where pressure was coming from, but mobility in the pocket. Right. And you don't have to be fast to have that.

Go ahead. Right. But he is like a pretty good athlete. I remember doing a thing on him where I think he averaged a double-double in high school in basketball. So I like that about him. But it doesn't jump out to you with athleticism. He's got a really good arm. He's got a great arm.

They threw a ball a lot. But again, I think he's probably a third or even a fourth round because of the injury concerns and lack of mobility. It's just like, where does he translate in today's NFL? And could you see him actually pushing to make, you know, for a starting job? Sam Howell, to me,

is a really interesting prospect because you remember, like, coming into this season, he was everybody's projected top five quarterback, you know, maybe the number one quarterback in the class.

And he's played a lot of football, so he, like, he fits the Bill Parcells, like, multiple-year starter, started three years, elevated North Carolina's program. And then the reason he fell off this year was because he was getting absolutely annihilated.

You throw in the film on him, and he has no time to set his feet. He's getting crushed. He's pretty tough. You look for toughness, and I do think that is something you have to try to evaluate. Can this guy take a pounding? He got absolutely drilled at Carolina this past season, kept coming back, like finds his way to clause team back into games.

The system I think was a little bit too collegiate, a little bit more RPO. Like he was running the ball a lot. And, but if you just watch him throw the football and just the way the ball comes off his hand, very natural release. You can make all the throws. He's got the arm and just the way the ball comes off his hand. Very natural release. He can make all the throws.

He's got the arm strength down the field. And he's a guy that, again, more of maybe a Drew Brees. Because he's 6'1". When I say this, I'm sure people are like, oh, you're saying he's going to be the next Drew Brees. No, I'm saying that's the type of quarterback you can envision him being. A pocket passer, pinpoint precision and accuracy, gets the ball out of his hands quick, good leader, good intangibles.

So Sam Howell, to me, is really intriguing. And he's actually, from his interviews at the Combine, you get around him like he feels like a franchise quarterback. And he blew people away at the Combine, which I think is why he was forgotten about as a first round pick. And I think a lot of people are thinking after the combine, the way he threw the ball, the way he interviewed, he might have put himself back in the first round.

I saw the video of the guy picking up garbage and I went, all right, now we're talking. That's your guy. I think it was, was it an Ivy League QB, I think? EJ Perry, yeah, from Brown. Yeah, that's right. right um i think it was was it an ivy league qb i think ej perry yeah from brown yeah that's right and so maybe he did it and it was awesome um i also think there's

times where guys do stuff knowing this is going to look awesome i'm very cynical the malik willis one i was not cynical about at all helping out a homeless guy in indie because i've spent time with him and he's incredibly impressive. He'll win the room every time he's in it. And the fact that that video, even though, again, I think people would do crazy shit. I think agents would do crazy shit to make their guys look good. That video was taken from across the street. So who knows? If that makes it look a little bit more like it was just spur of the moment. I had a confession on my radio show where I was like, I'm so cynical on these things now because I would put nothing past these agents.

I haven't met Malik Willis like you have. I know he blew people away at the comment as well. I would hope that they're just real and genuine, but that doesn't mean somebody else wouldn't capitalize on the moment and try to spread it out there just to show like, oh, this is the guy you want to build your franchise around right here. Look at what a great guy is going to be in the community. And the EJ Perry thing too, it was filmed. I think... Didn't one of the NFL Network reporters, I think she filmed it. She was the one that said, look at this. All I would say is these kids have been coached up so much. I don't put anything past them. But good for them. Good to have the awareness of, hey, this is an opportunity

where I can make myself look the way that you want to be perceived. Why wouldn't you do that? I think everybody should be doing it. They should be fighting each other to pick up the garbage to say, this is millions of dollars on the line. Why wouldn't you? And they're coached. to say, this is millions of dollars on the line. Why wouldn't you? And they're coached. Every one of these coaching combine training facilities, yeah, they teach you. They get your 40-time technique down. They show you the drills they're going to do. But they're also prepping you for interviews and prepping you for the week and how you interact with those other players. And do you hop to the front of the line and all that kind of corny stuff i would be doing all of it like whatever you can do to portray yourself in the best light possible why wouldn't you do it it would make me not want to draft you actually because

i would go all right you're so deception based like you know deceitful is the right word um and i'm not saying this about ej at all i i am or either one of them and it's not malik i believe because i've met him and so that's it i i i don't know about the other one i just love on draft day like d line gets drafted 28th you're like you know at 13 and a half sacks last last year for nc state ran a 4-7 put up 32 reps he goes and the way he fought for position to get garbage in front of other guys, let everyone cut him in the line. You're just like, I don't know. A lot of this shit, I don't think. We can pretend and Twitter seems to think it matters

so much that it's such a win that it also kind of turns me off to the whole part of it. All right. We didn't talk about Ole Miss, Mac Burrell. So, I think he's one of those more boomer busts. Love the way he throws the ball.

His improvisational skills, I think, are off the charts, like what he does when things break down. He's a little bit of a product of the system that they were running with Jeff Levy and Lane Kiffin at Ole Miss, which that system hasn't produced the most successful quarterbacks at the next level. But I hate that because I heard that about me, right? about me. You can't help the system you played in. He won in that system. Much I hate to admit this. I think he's really been hurt by not being able to work out

and play in the senior bowl. And of course, the injury that he had in their bowl game was everyone was talking about, oh my gosh, look, this is that whole argument, the debate comes around. I do think it's hurt him. The film is solid. I think the ball comes off his arm really nice. I think he's kind of... So I have Kenny Pickett one, and I had Matt Corral two, and I had Malik Willis three.

But if you're looking for upside, I think there's more upside on Malik Willis than there is on Matt Corral. So I'm debating, do I move Corral down one? And a lot of this maybe is a prisoner of the moment watching Malik Willis throw at the Senior Bowl because he threw the ball great. In bad weather, it was a big question mark. How are you going to do when it's rainy and cold? And it was, and he probably shined more than any quarterback at the Senior Bowl.

Again, at the combine, threw the ball really well. And I do think that's hurt Matt Corral. He's kind of fallen to the back of the conversation a little bit. But I think he could absolutely come back to the top with a strong pro day, which I think is coming up here in a couple weeks. But I hate to see that it's been impacted by an injury that was insignificant. But it just shows you what a fine line it is between being a top two or three quarterback. We've talked a lot on the radio show about when you were drafted

and coming in, and your background was different. You didn't play a lot of big-time high school football. You didn't play football until very late. You played at a small prep school, and then all of a sudden, everybody wants you, and you were thrilled to take your time at Florida State because once you got there. But when you went from Florida State state and even though you went later in the draft did you show up because i remember you telling me like when you showed up to florida

state you're like holy shit like this is a massive wake-up call how did that compare when you went to the giants from college so the interesting thing for me was if you would ask me that question before the draft and like yeah give me a chance like give me a chance to start give me a chance to compete i did have the wrong priorities though i didn't want to go to warm weather like the two spots i wanted to go to were denver and miami because it was john elway and dan marino like quarterbacks that i saw growing up that were idols of mine, that were back into their careers, that I could back up for a year or two and then learn from them, groom behind them,

and then step in. And I'm not saying I thought I was Dan Marino or John Elway, but the styles of play were similar, like especially Marino was a pure pocket passer, didn't run at all. So I was like, yeah, I could do what he does. Nowhere near as good, but maybe I could develop into that type of player.

So that was my hope coming out, getting ready for the draft. And then the Broncos come by and they select a kid named Jeff Lewis out of Northern Arizona. The Dolphins kept coming up on the draft. I didn't think first round was possible. Second round goes, they start

selecting other guys. Third round comes, Dolphins select somebody else. And then that night, the first three rounds were the first day. So they go by. And that night was probably one of the longest nights of my... I've told you this before. One of the longest nights of my life is I'm just... The thoughts that are going through my mind are, am I going to have to go back to graduate school? Do I go try to be a doctor like my dad? Do I go play baseball? Because that was still in the back of my mind. Man, I was a good baseball player. But football, is this not a

reality? Am I not going to get drafted? Am I not going to have an opportunity? So it almost shifted over by where I got drafted. So when I got drafted in the fourth round, the thought I kept having was, I just want to make the team because as a fourth rounder, I was probably safer than I thought I was because they did pick me in that round, but it's not like you're guaranteed. Sixth and seventh round, clearly, you're on the bubble. You're

going to have to claw your way to make the squad. But as a fourth rounder, and they had Tommy Maddox there who had a lot of playing experience. They had Dave Brown was the starter. Tommy Maddox was the backup. And they had Stan White from Auburn. And he was a pretty good college quarterback, similar to me, when he was at Auburn. So I was just thinking, man, I want to claw my way and make sure I make the team.

And then I would say my confidence grew the more that I watched Dave Brown play, the more that I watched other guys. The way you said that. Because I love Dave. Dave's the best. But when you start seeing somebody do things and you're like, well, I could make that throw. You start building confidence of you can even picture yourself being

like, well, I can do that better than him potentially. And then my second year, because he had the advantage with Dan Reeves' system that he had been in it already for a couple years. And then when Dan Reeves' system that he had been in it already for a couple years. And then when Dan Reeves was fired and Jim Fossil came in, that's when my... So my second year, I really started getting more antsy. And all right, I know the system just as well as he does.

I feel like I can make the throws just as well as he does. And I did not think I would start. But when he got hurt and I started playing, I just felt like I had more confidence. We had a great defense, so I didn't have to do a whole lot. But I was definitely on the more patient approach of... And I do think to the detriment of my career, I started almost too early. Some of that was immaturity on my part. I wasn't ready to handle that. But there is a value, I think, for some people and by myself, clearly it was for me,

But there is a value, I think, for some people and by myself, clearly it was for me, in watching and learning from somebody that's doing it and grooming. So for me, that's my one, I wish I was drafted by the Dolphins or the Broncos and could have sat for two or three years, watch those guys, watch the way they prepare, watch the way they train in the offseason, watch the way they handle themselves in the locker room leading the other teammates because I had no experience other than everything came easy to me. At Florida State, I think I was a good college quarterback, but I wasn't a great leader, stay after. I worked in the offseason and I was not late. I wasn't a bad teammate, but I didn't understand what it took to be the face of a franchise. And I feel like I didn't really learn that till later. And if I would have been able to watch those guys do it, I think it would have been more

beneficial to me in the long run, as opposed to it was great. I got to play early and we had success early. But then the success happened so fast that it set this bar of, okay, got to make the playoffs every year. You're going to have to do this. And we started losing games. I started getting killed. And the next minute, I'm gone.

I cut. And then I was pretty much just destined to be a backup for the rest of the career. Was there ever a rookie that was drafted a quarterback of a team that you were on where you were like, oh, no, this guy's better than me? Or the other way where you went up, they screwed this up? No.

When I was on the Falcons, they drafted in the seventh round I believe Doug Johnson out of Florida and I was you know second year in Atlanta I was only one I had signed a two year deal so I knew my contract was up and I just felt like he and they

loved him they loved Doug Johnson coming out like you could just hear like the positive reviews to the press how annoyed were you oh I was pretty annoyed and he did not lack in confidence either and I love Doug Doug Johnson coming out. Like you could just hear like the positive reviews to the press. How annoyed were you? Oh, I was pretty annoyed and he did not lack in confidence either. And I love Doug. Like he's a good dude,

but like, I think he had slinger on his license plate. Like you gotta have, you gotta have some serious swag to be rocking that. Now at Gainesville, it's one thing, but like, you might want to take that off there. He's a really good dude,

but he was like, he was, he was coming for my job, which I understand. And that's a part of the game But he was coming for my job, which I understand. That's part of the game. But it was aggressive at the time. And I felt like, okay, this is going to

get a little bit annoying. I need to have to fend this guy off. And then I didn't. I didn't play well that year. I ended up getting hurt. I had surgery after the season. They just didn't renew me and they kept him. So I kind of knew what was happening. And then I think he went on to like he might have started one game and like had an opportunity. It just

didn't pan out for him. And then the last year and this was not again another player. I don't think might have been dressed. So Bradley Van Pelt you and I have talked about this member Colorado State Oh local Oh late like local hero played at Colorado state, like Denver loved him. And then like the ownership gets involved. Like, cause everybody likes the hometown hero in the preseason. He was running these QB draws and running the ball and he wasn't a good passer, but I just was like, this is going to happen. They're going to screw me out of this position and go with this young kid.

Cause he was, I think he was a quarter of the salary at the time as a rookie, like seventh round pick. He was making league minimum as a veteran. I had to make a certain amount of league minimum. I think for me, it was 800. And I just saw it. I remember telling Courtney, my wife, I'm like, they're going to, they're going to roll with this kid.

He's not, he's not going to play in the NFL. He's not going to be a starter,. He's not going to be a starter. But they're just going to roll him out there and use him. And they did. They kind of used some wildcat stuff with him. And he never really... I don't think he ever got to start a game, but they used him a little bit. And then went in a different direction

when they drafted Cutler and moved on from Plummer and that whole regime. So yeah, that's the cutthroat side of it where you're like, all right, you know when your job is on the line and you can kind of see them making an exit strategy, it gets a little concerning. Yeah. Seventh round, though.

I remember him being bigger. He was only 6'2". He only played in three games. He was jacked, though. He was pretty big. He was more like a Tebow-type body. No, no doubt. I guess because I remember I watched all of those Colorado State games because I used to gamble all the time, and they were always

the last option to gamble on that Saturday unless you wanted to go Hawaii. Me and one of my buddies would just constantly be like, what do you want to do? We've got to back Bradley. We've got to back Bradley. We got to go. We got to go. Let's go Colorado State. Let's do it. He was

long flowing hair, good looking dude, Hollywood jaw. I actually loved Brad. We had fun. He was not coming in aggressively. Doug Johnson came in with swagger. He came in like, I'm gunning for your job.

Bradley was just there to have fun, man. He was a good time. He was not trying to take it. He was just happy to be there. And so we got along really well. But I just knew. I was like, this is the direction they're going to go. And it's not good for me.

And sure enough, it did. He was at my wedding. So we had a pretty good time together. He's a good dude. So Doug was at your wedding? No, Doug wasn't. we had a pretty good time together he's a good dude so doug was your now doug was at your wedding no doug wasn't bradley van pelt was oh he was doug did not get the invite i sound like i've actually run into him since then and he's like i think every week you get humbled by the nfl i think you're like and it was a weird relationship it can be there i've been in good quarterback rooms and i've been in bad ones okay

i'm gonna just ask you what's the story that you haven't told us yet about Doug early? Like it may have worked out, but there had to have been something where you were like, okay, fuck this guy. you know who, you know, who was on the staff there was Les Snead and Les Snead was his guy.

Like that's who, that's who saw him. And Les Snead was bottom of the, you know, rung of, of like scouts. And they were very like, let's go hunting this weekend. Where are we going hunting? Doug was

an outdoorsy guy and I was not. I was more a golfer. And so they were like buddy, buddy, palling around. And it just got like the brown nose aspect came into it and just became annoying. It's just one of those things. And you're trying to hang on for a job. And I don't know.

It wasn't the healthiest that I've been there. No, it wasn't like horrible. It wasn't anything egregious. I mean, he was just trying to play. Slinger is the second best vanity plate of Florida program quarterbacks, right?

What's the other one? Your boy, Chris Ricks. Yeah. What was his, but he, I don't think it was a vanity plate. I think it was bigger than that.

From what I've been told, for those who don't think it was a vanity plate. I think it was bigger than that. For those who don't know, Ricks, when he showed up on campus, according to legend, 20 years ago, he had a plate that said, Look out, DBs. It was like LK. It's a lot of letters. I think it might have been.

I think there was a Jeep with the wheel cover. You know, like how you have the Jeep with the wheel in the back, and then you customize those? That's even better. Yeah, that's all in. The vanity plates aren't enough. You need the whole shebang.

That's the legend, I believe, has it. Okay. What he had. All right, before we let you go, we've got to check in on the youngest member of the Canel Brood. Yeah. Brady Buckets. How's Brady Buckets doing? She's better.

Struggling a little bit with rehab, though. So six weeks, she's been in a cast. She got it off last week. Broken ankle? Broken ankle. Two places. She had to have a screw put in which has a little washer on it i don't know why it gives me a kick like there's a little you can see it on that tray

there's a washer that holds it in place doctor was great out at joe dimaggio's children's hospital remembered our show was like yeah whatever happened to your guys show i love listening to you guys you and ryan you guys were great together really good dude but except when he told her six weeks in the cast i was like well what do you do next? He's like, well, you just kind of start, you know, just walk and then you run slowly and you go. And there was no timetable. So she's really having a hard time with why

she can't run like yesterday. And it's only been a week since she's been out of the cast. So no rehab there. Just kind of just taking it day by day. She's getting a little bit better. But Brady Buckets is doing a lot better. So thank you for asking. The stupid trampoline though, that really pisses me off. That's how she broke it?

Yeah. So my dad has always been anti-trampoline. Don't ever get your kids trampolines. And I was on the same page. Just don't do it. It's too much risk. There's too much involved. Homeowners, they'll take away your homeowner's insurance, all these issues that crop up with it. It's too much risk. There's too much involved. Homeowners, they'll take away your homeowner's insurance, all these issues that crop up with it. So my girls have asked me one for five, six years. And we lived in Connecticut. The neighbors had one, which was great. And that's what got them into the kick for like, let's get a trampoline. So we moved back to Florida. We were renting, always had an excuse like, well, we can't get it. So now that we've been in this house for over a year, Christmas comes around and they basically bullied me into it. They're like, oh, we have to get a trampoline. We have to get a trampoline. And my thinking was, they're at an age when they're inside a lot, they want to be on screens,

they want to play. So I'm like, hey, if it's something that gets them outside, get them outside. They jump on the trampoline. That's great. So I cave Christmas, get it, put it up the day after Christmas. Three weeks. We don't even have the thing. Three weeks. Brady comes down wrong. It wasn't even... Because it had the enclosed,

but she was jumping with older kids. So she was jumping with an older sister and a kid that lives across the street. And they were much heavier, like two times the size, going as high as they can. They were doing popcorn and having all the fun games they do.

And then I guess what apparently happened is she comes down, the spring is going up, and it just catches her exactly the wrong time. And when I was actually... It was Monday night. It was Martin Luther King Day. There was a Monday night football game. I don't know if it was playoffs or something, but I was getting ready to do a hit from my house. And Courtney comes in and she's like, Brady's hurt. I was like, all right, I'll be there after this hit. It's like a 10 minute hit. And she's like, no, no, no, you need to come now. And I was like, all right, this must be serious. And go in and it's like, hanging the wrong way. It was ugly. It was nasty. And when I go into the room,

she was screaming. She's like, don't tell him. Don't tell him. She was saying, don't tell my dad. Don't tell him. And the reason was she didn't want she was saying. Don't tell my dad. Don't tell him. And the reason was she didn't want me to get rid of the trampoline. She's like, he's going to throw it out. He's going to get rid of the trampoline. So she was more devastated from that than she was from the pain of the injury. But all that went through surgery, went successfully. Knock on wood, they still want to keep an eye on her growth plate, but that's been good so far. And yeah, so it's been a little bit of an interesting,

you talk about a nine-year-old with lots of energy that's on crutches and hasn't been able to move. Oof, it's a lot of energy. You got to burn off in other ways. All right. But she's good. Much better. Tell her I said hey.

I will, for sure. Thanks, man. Love it. Yep, you got it. You can check out Canal every morning, 7 to 10 Eastern on ESPN, You Radio, Dusty, and Canal. By the way,

Aaron Rodgers breaking news. This happened right after we finished with Danny. He's staying with the Packers. Looks like it's a massive deal. Four years, 200 million. Our rule, though, on NFL contract headlines,

let's hold out for 12 hours to 24 hours until we find out what the real money is. It would not shock me that they wanted the headline of a $200 million deal here. $153 million guaranteed, but then its cap number goes down. This is great for everybody because we can

stop fucking talking about it and have to hear about it. There you go. Rogers segment over. All right, let's do life advice. You want details? Fine. I drive a Ferrari 355 Cabriolet. What's up? I have a ridiculous house in the South Fork.

I have every toy you could possibly imagine. And best of all, kids, I am liquid. So, now you know what's possible. Let me tell you what's required. Life advice is lifeadvicerr at gmail.com. That is the email address to send in your dilemmas.

We had one that I really want to do, but I just, I don't know. It was good instincts on you, Kyle, to send it, but you sent it with an alert of, can we? And so, I don't know. I guess, did we do the Spotify playlist discussion yet? We didn't.

Should we do two seconds on this real quick? What was the goal, Saruti? What was the premise of this? They asked, was it for personalities? Oh, it was for the ringer? Oh, now I feel bad. You guys got asked was it for personalities oh it's for the ringer oh now i feel bad yeah you guys got asked by spotify for playlists well just ryan not me not me i would have gladly given them but they wanted a ryan workout playlist right and it was like you know 10 to 15 songs of just like basically like max day i think is the way that you put it um max day

was the title yeah yeah like golf did one uh. Bill did his like top 10 Pearl Jam songs, like his personal top 10. So everybody was like doing playlists and they're going to be up on Spotify on the ring of the year. Kyle, we'll get you involved. Don't worry about it. I want Kyle's playlist.

You post yours everywhere. Yeah, yours are on Twitter. It's like they don't have Twitter or ears. The fact that, whatever. Let's talk about Ryan's playlist. Spotify doesn't even follow me, so don't worry about it, buddy. Okay.

So yeah, there you go. So Ryan did his Max Day playlist and heavily featured what? Let's talk about Ryan's playlist. Spotify doesn't even follow me, so don't worry about it, buddy. Okay. So, yeah, there you go. So, uh, so Ryan did his Max Day playlist and heavily featured, what, like some Limp Biscuit, a lot of Limp Biscuit in there. I think it was partially ironic, but also like one of those, like, actually, I still kind of do like some Limp Biscuit songs. I'm with you on that. Some of them are good.

They're good workout songs. What can I say? Sue me. Um, was there a Nickelback song? I don't even know, but like it was a weird playlist to be honest. Alien Ant Farm? Love farm movies great song it was it was meant to kind of poke fun at that genre that lane there for a few years the early 2000s um there was one song on there that i was kind of like wait this song is awesome so what's what am i doing wrong here by the way i need help from saruti if i want to post a spot Spotify song that I'm listening to in that moment and I want to put it on my Instagram story with music. Is that now not possible?

Is there some copyright thing? No, you can still do that. Yeah, but it never allows me to do it. I don't know what I'm just sound. We're going to stop talking about this right now because I just might as well say this offline. Yeah, because I couldn't be like, hold on. I got to reload the coal stove in the back. So we'll just stay away.

The point is that I've never had more reaction, I think, of anything I've ever done than that playlist. It's ridiculous. The number of people that have reached out about that playlist. And I'll tell you, I think I put it together in like four minutes. So maybe I'll do a real artsy one one or something but you know what we should do we should next time i'm asked to do it which may be never now because of what i did this past week have kyle do it and it'll be like ryan russo presents kyle's frolic room early start playlist all right so there you go problems hold on do to at least let people know what the playlist is? I have it up here now. I'm bringing it up.

Go for it. There's 11 songs. Starts off with My Way, Limp Bizkit, second track, In the End, Linkin Park, three, shout out Evanescence, Bring Me to Life. You do know that song. Corn, Freak on a Leash, Duality, Slipknot, Mudvayne. I was never a Mudvayne

guy, but Dig. By the way, that Mudvayne song is good. I'm not going to deny it. I'm not a Mudvayne. I was never a Mudvayne guy, but Dig. By the way, that Mudvayne song is good. I'm not going to deny it. Not a Mudvayne guy. Roland, Limp Bizkit, again, great workout song. Papa Roach, Last Resort, Smooth Criminal Alien Ant Farm, Higher by Creed, and then you close it out with Limp Bizkit

and Faith, which again is kind of a good workout song. I hate to say it, but you think Limp Bizkit tracks. Wait, you think the Limp Bizkit cover of George Michael's Faith is a good workout song. I hate to say it, but you think Limp Bizkit tracks. Wait, you think the Limp Bizkit cover of George Michael's Faith is a good workout song? Maybe not. Maybe not that one specifically,

but like My Way, Roland. What did I have? Take a look around. I had one of my Peloton rise the other day. It's great. It's awesome.

And by the way, thanks to you, I just got into Tool again, so I appreciate that. There was no Tool on this playlist, but there should have been. Well, then it would. couldn't do that to Tool. You didn't want to lump them in with Fred Durst? If you're going to do a Tool playlist, it can only be Tool.

All right, that'll be the next one. You can't do that to Tool. Everybody knows that. Kyle, I can't tell if you love this or you hate this right now. There's like an animosity filter coming off of you right now on the Zoom. No, no, no. And it's not that you did it. I didn't know that folks were getting asked.

That's what really bums me out is that folks were getting asked. He's pissed. I think this is the most upset I've ever seen you. Is that fair? Whose job is it to figure out who should have playlists? It's somebody's job, right? Somebody's not doing their job well. That's all I'm saying.

All right. We'll get Kyle in the mix on the next one it's fine what can you do somebody at frolic room asked told me i was a little repetitive in my music yesterday and i made a whole new thing i just got a whole new so spotify i'm already thinking about playlists is frolic room looking for some sort of sponsorship deal with us because now is it fair i think you know what actually take the floor here a little bit before we get the advice what has happened now to frolic rooms business because it appears that it's become now a tourist attraction because of the podcast and you it's funny it's actually i've seen a couple people in the last couple um days i'll say a week just so I don't sound like I'm there all the time. And it goes the same way. It's a

guy and a girl usually. Yeah, probably. It's a guy and a girl. If it's a younger guy my age, I'm like, all right, there's at least a 30% chance he's only here because he listens to Life Advice. I ignore him, whatever. And then a girl's like, hey, do you have a podcast? And I'm like, yeah.

And she's like, yeah. Todd, it's him. All right, can we just get this over with? So it's like hey do you have a podcast and i'm like yeah and she's like yeah todd he's got it's him all right can we just get this over with so it's like hey hey man how's it going but yeah that's like the it's always like he dragged they're in town for something usually with a girl he drags her there she's like can we fucking do this already because now we're just like in the corner looking at at this guy who's sitting by himself at a bar like do you think we could stop this so she usually breaks the ice and then uh either we stay or it's like on their way out so um but yeah it happens and then sometimes it's the the old um distance long distance jukebox um donation from somebody so those are the two things really all right cool yeah i love i love can we leave now all right uh

bachelor party question here all right six foot 165 35 years old body looks like runner uh with athletic gear on but when you pop the top of the shirt makes for slight muffin tops married out of my league and we're adding a player to the dugout soon that means she's pregnant pregnant, Kyle. I think all of us understood that. Yeah, we got it. The issue at hand is deciding whether to be the bigger man or not. I played college sports, not for the podcast. Okay, he tells us where. Pretty good. Pretty good. Pretty good. All right, and live with some other guys for all four years. We went to different big cities after graduation, but have seen each other about twice a year since. All right, he's 31. My wife and I are getting married. We're getting married Labor Day weekend of 2020, which was in the air for

COVID. So we kept the date, but just had family and wedding party. The bachelor party was the beginning of July, 2020 as COVID had ramped up and people were understandably cautious. I invited the guys into where I live. Most came, but one friend in question here did not. He lives a four-hour drive away, but cited COVID and didn't come. I understood. I shortly after found out from a buddy that was in another bachelor party that one week later he'd flown across the country, albeit a better location, and made it no mask or anything. Love this guy, but this is typical on his behalf. Does what he wants when he wants and doesn't make any sacrifices, if not for himself or his fiance.

His bachelor party is coming up. Do I go? My wife is due in six weeks after the date of the bachelor party. Could use that as an excuse. So he's going to say life is too short. Kyle will say, fuck him. Rosillo, I think you'll lean on going. All right.

Look, we definitely have one guy in the group that was like this. Everything was on his terms. Always on his terms, always on his terms. He had a lot of money growing up. And eventually, he and I, there's no relationship whatsoever. And I was never invited to anything. So I didn't really host a ton of cool shit because my parents didn't have awesome setups. So that wasn't like I was inviting anybody to do anything. But it didn't dawn on me until I kind of looked back retroactively. I'm like, yeah, that kind of sucked.

That kind of sucked the people you're going to have. If you haven't enough friends, you're going to have that friend that's in the group that you feel like you're always kind of, you know, figuring out ways to make sure they're okay, because that's it. And it gets a little exhausting, but that's not really what this is. Okay. What this really is about is you denying yourself a weekend with the rest of the guys that you seemingly still get along with really well. And I'm telling you, these weekends start to disappear. I would pay a large sum of money for my six or seven closest best friends to all get together for a weekend. And I'm just talking about I would pay the price of attendance and then whatever else it would take because they're almost impossible now at my age, like to get that many guys together.

So at 31, I'm telling you, cherish these moments where everybody's going to be able to get together. And just because it's his fucking party, who cares? You're still going to get to see everybody else that's there. So go into it with that. Yeah. He wanted to go to something else, you know? And if the other thing that he went to was going to be awesome compared to the thing that you were doing, you know,

I can admit that there'll be some things that may come up where I go, Hey, sorry, man, that I can't make it to this because I'm definitely going to this instead. And if you do it all the time, then maybe you don't become friends anymore. Maybe you can call that person selfish. I totally, you're not, you're not wrong to feel these things. But what I would say is to spite yourself, I think we do this far too often, to spite yourself, the enjoyment of a weekend with all your buddies is these become few and far between as you get older and older and the kids start coming around. Don't do that out of spite because you're going to love the option. You're going to wish you had this option in another five or six years as you guys all get older.

So go. I was going to say something that was kind of the opposite, but I think you kind of won me over. But did he say that his baby's going to be six weeks old by the time he's leaving or his baby's due six weeks

after the bachelor party is? I forget if it was whichever end this was on. But either way, I don't think that that the wife would love. Six weeks after. Six weeks after. is i forget if it was at whichever end this was on but either way i don't think that um that the wife would six weeks after six weeks after so i don't know that might that might suck too right i mean i think the wife would be far more upset after the kid were born

but again i don't know i don't want to get an argument with pregnant yeah i agree what i was gonna say with all of this. What I was going to say is just say, you can't go and cite COVID. I thought that would have been hilarious, but, uh, just do the exact same way.

You don't have to say my kid or whatever. This, that COVID dude, that would be hilarious. If you're like crazy out there, this COVID thing, I'm just, I want to just check off every precautionary box.

So, and then like really good effort that weekend and post everything on Instagram. See you in 23. No, Ryan, I'm with you. I think you nailed everything. I mean, unless you're like Russell Westbrook level petty and you're not going to be able to have a good time because you're

going to be so annoyed with this guy, then maybe don't go. But if you just want to hang out and have a good time and you're having a kid, I got a couple bachelor parties coming up this year with some close friends. And they're some of the things that i look forward to most like even more than the weddings like it's not even that we're doing anything crazy one of them we're going to i think we're going to burlington actually ryan we're just gonna hang out on the lake and just hang out and drink and just be together uh you're right those the older you get

like we try to plan a vacation with my friends for like five years now and she just doesn't work out so that you need to take advantage of these times when you can just have like a dude's weekend and this is one of them and honestly, even if you go, fuck that guy. You don't have to talk to him the entire time. Just talk to your other friends. I would say enjoy yourself unless you're going to be super petty. Anything else? No.

Seems pretty straightforward. This is just a follow-up that apparently this is what's so great about the podcast, especially recent history of it and just the audience and the numbers and everything, uh, how many people hadn't heard the Dierks Bentley story. So we had a lot of follow-up to that. And so that's great. And I'm, I'm glad everybody appreciated it. And they actually posted, uh, the story from Dierks Instagram account, which I can pretty much guarantee you he doesn't run. So I would guarantee that he wasn't like,

hey, let me get a shout out to the podcast here. But it's a great story. It's an inspiring story. And that's great. And so we had one guy chime in. It was just too good. So I'm glad Kyle sent this one over. He said, listen to your story about unsupportive friends at Dirk's Bentley last week. It reminded me of a story my boss told me a few years back about one of his close friends from college who was friends with Jim Henson, the Muppets guy, back in the mid-70s. Apparently, three or four months before he caught national attention

and blew up, him, the friend, and a few guys staged what was tantamount to an intervention to get him to chill with the whole frog and pig thing. Oh, that is so good. That's so good. We have an announcement at the end of the podcast, too, but we. That's so good. We have an announcement at the end of the podcast too, but we'll do this one quick. 6'2", 180, 185 bench, long arms also.

Not that strong. 32, hair recently started receding. Beard just started graying. Fathering young kids is starting to show on my gut and face. Needless, I'm not 21, nor do I look it. One of my biggest pet peeves is getting carded at restaurants or bars these are not the college or spring break places that inevitably carry more liability for

serving minors often times once momentum has been gained with a bartender after the initial meet and greet and the first drink is ordered that momentum is lost during the request to see an ID is made but having the ID ready at a less busy more sophisticated establishment never seems to work out socially either and makes me feel like a loser.

I've started tipping accordingly. Am I being a dick? The other night I took my family to a mid-level American fair suburban bar and grill, which is the best description of Chili's I've ever heard of. The kids are obviously mine. Or maybe Applebee's on a date night. All right. The kids are obviously mine. My oldest, who's seven, was calling me dad.

Clearly, I'm not under 21. Well, you know. The waiter, who was about my age or younger, took drink orders for everyone and then asked to see my ID while I started fiddling with my youngest,

who was in a high chair. The annoyance clearly showed on my face when I begrudgingly pulled out my wallet with one hand whilst holding my 18-month-old. He then proceeded

to annoyingly scan the identification for far longer than he needed to and flipping it over multiple times. Needless to say, his tip greatly reflected my annoyance at the circumstance. Sounded like this guy left maybe an 11-percenter here. I certainly know it's the law, but what about the unwritten social law

that bartenders and waitstaff need to be cool and able to read the room? What type of ID checker was a younger Russillo? Cool or cautionary? I was not cautionary. That was sort of policy at the time, the places that I worked at. Um,

although one place in the vineyard that I worked at was a little bit more upscale. We had to, you know, we had to, but by the way, back then technology was pretty easy to be like,

Oh, stencil. Got it. New Jersey profile pick nineties. Those, whoever was pumping out those New Jersey IDs made a killing. Anyway,

uh, you know what I'm going to tell you on this one? If you look that young at 31 that you're constantly getting carded all the time, just understand the annoyance now is going to be worth it for how good you're going to look when you're 50. That's it. I saw the picture you hear. You look like a young guy. You just look young. You're going to want to look young as you get older. So yeah, it sucks. And it's a little bit extra and you probably built it up in your head. You you're pre annoyed because you're expecting to happen because it's happening to you all the time. Um, yeah, it'd be great if the person could read the room a little bit better, but the fact that you're holding an 18 month old and you have a seven-year-old that's calling you dad and the fucking server still can't

figure it out that you're not 21, that means you're going to look so much better than everybody else. When you get to your forties and your fifties, that's the way you should look at it. Be happy about this, even if it's slightly annoying. And you know what? Hopefully you're at least 15%. That's all. Anything else? I just think you should master the, um, the like one word. Like I've, I've done it too, where it's like, sometimes it's with Anything else? and that's fine. And I get it for that because there's cameras on you all the time. But when people are like, can I see your ID or something? I mean, I'm 28. So it's really not crazy.

But I'll just do like the, all right. I won't do it in a mean way, but I think I've actually mastered it. I think I'm actually elite at it, if you will. Is this the like, all right thing where I'm a little surprised and they get it. So I think just get better at doing that all the time. right so Rudy you're a young looking dude yeah no I feel like I've probably

been a similar thing to this guy but I don't especially places like that like the big chains whatever like they have to be extra careful about this so I think that like they'll card people in their 40s and 50s I feel like a certain establishment just because it's the law and they have to card everybody because they don't want to like, you know, make it seem like, you know, they're only carding people who are young, they're recording everybody, there are no questions asked, everybody has to deal with this and just deal with their don't come to our restaurant. I think that's kind of the deal. And my only thing was like, I wonder if people actually like try to scam by bringing in kids like 18 year olds or like bring in their like, you know, their kid brother and be like,

Oh, yeah, this is my kid. Like I'm able to drink. I wonder if there's ever been like a scam before. Maybe this person has gone through that and seen and they're trying to read through your scam. But clearly, it's not that big of a deal if you just take your wallet out, show your ID and move on and have a drink. Like, chill out, dude. That's what I would say. Yeah, you just made me think of an entirely different story. But it's funny how depending on who you're with, like if you're younger, but you're at a fancy dinner, some people may not card you. You know, I remember I got a hotel with my girlfriend when I was a freshman in

college, it was literally packed a weekend bag and walked across the street to like a Sheridan, you know, we're going to have our own formal, I guess. And then we ordered champagne to the room and, you know,

we'd already got beers from somebody older or something. And the hotel didn't care. Like they, they rolled in the champagne and we're like, whatever. And then of course I think she got a stomachache and ruined the entire night. Um,

I remember, but this actually has nothing to do with it, but I don't know. I'm trying to think, is that my first beer? I don't know how old I was. I'm going to be 14. And I was i was you know laying brick all day out back hot day you know getting a couple ice waters in you throughout the day just trap rock dust pat it down rubber mallet

out there making sure the edges are on the line snapping a tape checking your levels pitch it away from the from the foundation a little bit and then the guy came out just started handing out high lives i was like what the fuck then the guy handed me a high life i didn't know what to do you know and then he said after he gave it to me he was like wait to the foreman because it wasn't my dad i was working i got like subbed out for a week on this thing and the guy was like wait is he old enough and then the guy was like by the way the other guy loved to drink so he didn't give us he was just like yeah he's old enough and i remember like i remember taking a sip of it being like fucking people drink this this is awful like can i get you know i think i just held on to the thing the entire time. Then you get older, you start to like them.

So there you go. Full circle. Okay. Thanks to everybody, Kyle and Steve. Ring or Spotify. And yes, we edited out a life advice that we did that's maybe the best one we've ever done, but we all collectively agreed.

I just don't, I don't know. We just don't want to even invite into anything of being critical of us in this spot for not understanding something. So maybe I shouldn't even be fucking talking about it now. Who knows? The lost tapes, the lost start of Patreon. It'll be there. There you go.

It'll get dropped on YouTube somewhere. Yep. Show us. We need the missing life. We didn't even give any advice we just read the email it was nothing to be said we got done we had a great time then we looked at each other

and said can we air that we said we probably could but there's always a 1% chance somebody will try to take this and turn it into something that it clearly isn't and so we're not taking that chance so there you go the lost tapes please subscribe we'll be back on thursday loaded podcast next couple days it's a thursday and tuesday again bill and i every sunday you